Telephones provide a great convenience to users by allowing fast, reliable, and widespread communication. Call-handling technologies, such as caller identification (caller ID), call waiting, selective call forwarding, voicemail, and distinctive ringing have been developed to enhance this convenience. Call-handling enables the recipient of an incoming call the ability to identify the source of the call, and to handle the incoming call accordingly. For purposes of time management, security, and convenience, a recipient may choose to screen, monitor, and/or prioritize calls from a certain source or during a certain time period.
Call-handling is particularly useful to individuals who use a subscriber line to access a computer network, such as the Internet. When these individuals are connected to the Internet, incoming calls can present several problems. If a call waiting service is not enabled, the subscriber line will ring busy for the duration of the Internet session. If a call waiting feature is enabled, each call to the subscriber line will disrupt the network session, and reconnection is likely to required. A user can usually disable call waiting for the duration of the session by entering a special code, such as *70, prior to dialing into the Internet. When call waiting is disabled, incoming calls are blocked or sent to a central office based voicemail service.
Call forwarding services provide another option for handling calls during an online session. Using call forwarding, the user can designate a directory number that will receive all calls while the user is online. Voicemail, call forwarding, and call waiting features are subscription services that are typically available for a monthly fee, in addition to the charge for telephone service. However, these services may not give the user the flexibility to handle calls according to the source of the calls. Rather, all calls are handled in the same manner while the features are activated and the user is online.
Internet call waiting (ICW) offers one approach to providing users with flexible call-handling abilities. Internet call waiting is typically implemented using an ICW application installed on a personal computer (PC) in combination with call waiting or call forwarding subscriptions provided by a telephone company. ICW applications detect incoming calls while the user's PC is connected to a computer network via a subscriber line. To activate an ICW session, the user launches the ICW application and uses the subscriber line to dial a special code, such as *95. Some ICW applications require the user to connect to the Internet as well. Upon detecting an incoming call, the ICW application supplies the user with a visual and/or audible cue that notifies the user of the incoming call, identifies the source of the call, and/or prompts the user to select the desired call handling option. The ICW application can identify the source of the incoming call using data provided by a caller ID subscription, and displays the call information on the user's screen. To decide how to handle a call using Internet call waiting or to otherwise monitor incoming calls, the user must have access to a caller identification subscription service. Caller ID subscriptions provide users with the telephone number and/or name associated with incoming calls. In conjunction with ICW, the user's computer displays caller information in the same manner as a caller ID device. Based upon the call information, the user decides whether to take the call and discontinue the online session.
Alternatively, the user or the ICW software can forward the call to a remote server using a call forwarding subscription. The remote server captures the information identifying the source of the incoming call, and then displays this identifying information on the user's PC. The remote server accesses the user's PC using the IP address that is randomly assigned to the Internet session established using the user's directory number.
There are several disadvantages to the call forwarding approach for ICW. The call forwarding service must be initiated before the online session is begun. Call forwarding subscriptions are network-actuated, and thus, the forwarding options selectable by the user are typically limited to conserve network resources. Oftentimes, the user must be connected to the Internet using the telephone line to be monitored to use such ICW services. If the user chooses to answer the call, the remote server forwards the call back to the user's directory number. The user must then answer the call using the subscriber line monitored by the ICW. Some ICW systems place the Internet connection “on hold” for at least a short period of time (anywhere from 2 to 30 seconds), while the user answers the call. If the conversation or transmission is completed before the Internet connection is disconnected by the host or carrier, then the session can continue. If the user fails to respond to an onscreen cue, the ICW system must handle the call according to a default call-handling option.
In addition to potentially costly subscription services, existing ICW approaches require access to the subscriber line for activation and deactivation. This limitation restricts the number of lines that can be monitored using a computer or a caller ID device, because without additional equipment, most PCs and caller ID devices include only one or two incoming subscriber line jacks.
There is a need for a system and method for enabling a user to monitor one or more subscriber lines from any location, to identify the source of incoming calls, and to handle incoming calls accordingly.